:: Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swinger's Club ::

:: Sunday, May 16, 2004 ::

Ockham's Razor

In Contact, Jody Foster's character cites the scientific theory of Ockham's Razor, which posits that "all things being equal, the simplest explanation is most likely to be true."

What Ockham actually wrote (in Latin) was "Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate". Literally translated, Ockham's Razor is "do not posit plurality without necessity." A more modern translation might be "do not propose complex hypotheses without a compelling reason," or more simply, "test the simplest hypothesis first."

I've put this theory to a crude test by using some commonly shared experiences as examples. How many times have we thought our wallet or purse was stolen, when it fact it was simply misplaced? Or how about when you're crushed out on someone and trying to figure out if they're interested too? In those situations, how many times have we found ourselves playing the role of the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, trying to find any secondary meaning out of the most insignificant utterances (i.e. "Hey, I'm hanging out with my friends tonight" - wait, does he/she not want to spend any time with me? No, it simply means he/she wants to hang out with his/her friends tonight)?

So on the drive back from a barbeque yesterday, me and three other friends in the car noticed that the driver's younger brother had several female friends that were at the barbeque, while we had none. Then we thought of all the countless nights that having female friends with us while trying to get into a club would have come in handy (bouncers at pretentious clubs here rarely let a group of guys in without girls). So while we collectively pondered why we didn't have a rotating cast of female friends in our clique, Ockham's Razor was useful in figuring out the reason why:

My friends and I are dogs.

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